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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women’s tennis team fell in the final home match of the season on Sunday afternoon, April 14, to 57th-ranked Denver 7-0. The Aggies finish the regular season 6-15 before heading into the Western Athletic Conference Championships in late April.

“Denver is a very good team and it is reflected in its national ranking,” head coach Ivan Fernandez said. “It was good to see the team really fighting today on Senior Day. Ginet (Pinero) had the closest match of the day losing in three sets at No. 1 singles.”

Senior Ginet Pinro lost in a heartbreaker on Senior Day. She took her No. 1 singles match to three sets (7-5, 6-7, 11-9) before surrendering the point.

“It has been a very difficult spring season. It is good to know we will be going to the WAC championships in Denver in two weeks. There is always a chance when you get into the post season,” Fernandez said.

The next five Aggies were downed in consecutive sets, with juniors Annemieke Witte and Ros-Polly Nguyen falling at the middle courts 6-3, 6-1, and 6-4, 6-1, respectively.

Senior Jodie Williams and Denise Van Der Ben were able to work at the No. 2 court in doubles for an 8-5 win, but NM State was bookended by close losses, giving Denver a 1-0 lead going into individual play.

“It was a very emotional day having my two seniors play their last match at home of their careers,” Fernandez said. “They have meant a lot to the Aggies and their teammates and they will be missed.”

After finishing the final weekend of the regular season with a split weekend, NM State heads to the WAC Championships hosted by Denver on April 25-28.

About the Seniors

Ginet Pinero

Pinero finished her career at NM State with a 60-52 overall singles record and 48-53 in doubles play. In her senior season, Pinero helped earn a 4-3 victory over the UTEP Miners and moved her overall singles record against the Miners to 2-2. Pinero earned a singles victory against Rio Grande Rivalry opponent UNM and ended her career with a 3-1 record against the Lobos. She’s had a .500 winning percentage or better in each of her years as an Aggie and she was named and earned a win against #74 Florida International (2/10) and helped the Aggies defeat their opponent 4-3. She and her doubles partner, Ros-Polly Nguyen worked to defeat the duo from North Texas during the fall season of 2012, while UNT was ranked 74th in the country. She was an ITA Scholar Athlete as a sophomore and named a member of the WAC All-Academic team as a sophomore and junior.

Jodie Williams

Williams finished her career at NM State with 18 wins in singles competition, earning two of her wins in the fall season of her senior campaign. Williams won her last two doubles matches as an Aggie with teammate Denise Van Der Ben and also competed in 14 dual matches in the No. 1 spot for the Aggies throughout her career. One of the highlights of Williams’ career was helping NM State claim victory over No.5 Abilene Christian in 2011. She posted a 31-37 doubles record with the Aggies and had 10 victories in doubles play as a sophomore with Manon Sylvain and nine doubles wins in her final season with NM State. Two of those doubles wins this season came against No. 17 Tarleton State with Van Der Ben by her side. Williams also garnered honors off the court as an ITA Scholar Athlete and member of the WAC All-Academic team as a sophomore and junior.